Serverless Contact Form

Introduction

Every website needs a contact form — but not every form needs a server.

In this project, I built a serverless contact form architecture using AWS that securely collects user submissions, stores them in a database, and instantly notifies a recipient via email. It’s fast, scalable, and requires no infrastructure management.

This solution was originally implemented for a mid-size company that needed a way to handle both client inquiries and HR-related submissions — such as job applications — directly from their website. I later adapted it for my personal portfolio to demonstrate how serverless architecture can simplify business workflows.

Project Goals

• Collect and process contact form submissions securely

• Store structured user data for future reference

• Notify team members in real-time

• Eliminate the need for any backend servers

• Apply AWS best practices for event-driven, serverless design
  

Frontend (Form UI)

The form is built into my static portfolio website hosted via S3 + CloudFront. It includes:

• Name, Email, and Message fields

• Basic client-side validation

When the form is submitted, a JavaScript function sends a POST request to a public API Gateway endpoint with the user's input in JSON format.

API & Lambda Logic

At the heart of the backend is AWS Lambda, triggered by API Gateway.

The Lambda function:

• Validates and sanitizes user input

• Assigns a unique ID and timestamp

• Saves the message in a DynamoDB table

• Sends a notification email via Amazon SES

This is a stateless and efficient way to process requests with no idle compute cost.

Data Storage (DynamoDB)

Submissions are logged in a DynamoDB table, with each item including:

• UUID

• Name, Email, Subject, Message

• Timestamp

This allows the business to later export, query, or audit form submissions with high availability and low latency.

Email Notification (SES)

Each time a message is submitted:

• Lambda triggers Amazon SES to send a formatted email to the appropriate department

• Different templates and recipients can be configured based on submission type (e.g., HR or Sales)

• All emails are sent over a verified domain to ensure delivery

During development, SES ran in sandbox mode, but the system is fully ready for production usage.

Security

• IAM roles grant Lambda minimum required permissions

• API Gateway includes throttling and request validation

• Environment variables are used for configuration — no secrets are hardcoded

• Input sanitization prevents injection or malformed data attacks

• Preflight CORS settings are configured for safe cross-origin POST requests
  

Deployment

The initial version was deployed using the AWS Console, but I’m now converting this entire stack to AWS CDK for repeatable, scalable deployment across environments.

Future CI/CD integration will:

• Trigger updates to Lambda code on GitHub push

• Automatically re-deploy API Gateway and DynamoDB configuration

• Apply rollback policies on failed builds
  

Real-World Application

I built the first version of this solution for a mid-size company that needed an efficient, automated way to:

• Capture and store client inquiries

• Allow job applicants to submit basic information via web forms

• Route notifications to different teams based on message type

They previously used email-only workflows with no backend recordkeeping. This project helped them centralize form data and reduce response delays — all without setting up or maintaining servers.

Lessons Learned

• Deepened my understanding of API Gateway + Lambda integrations

• Learned how to manage SES domain verification and sandbox restrictions

• Designed for multi-purpose form use across departments

• Practiced DynamoDB schema planning for real-time write operations

• Strengthened my serverless development and security skills
  

Conclusion

This serverless contact form project proves that you don’t need a traditional backend to build powerful, real-world web features. By using AWS’s event-driven architecture, I created a solution that handles dynamic user input, persists data, and sends alerts — all with virtually no infrastructure overhead.

🛠️ Tech Stack:

• Amazon API Gateway

• AWS Lambda

• Amazon DynamoDB

• Amazon SES

• IAM